A Christmas Bargain
by just giddy
Summary: early christmas gift. KBOW oneshot. basically includes all the usual holiday escapades, putting up lights, eveparties, and reading books upside down...


**Okz, this goes out to a good good friend of mine; Lady Catriona-Arre (go read her stories by the way, she's brilliant), who day by day has constantly put up with my nonsense and still apparently likes me (god bless her soul). As this alone is a miracle in itself along with helping each other through a bunch of rough spots and finding each other perfect to vent to and the like. So I'm dedicating this to her. So merry Christmas girl!**

Oliver Wood watched as his chaser stood precariously on the back of an arm chair, just to put up some lousy Christmas decorations in the common room. Now, the Scotsman was all for the Christmas spirit and the jolly old fat man who slide down chimneys for kicks and the 'ho-ho-ho!' and all that, but not at the expense of his chaser's well being.

But she was far too stubborn to listen to him when he said she shouldn't be balancing on her toes atop a unsteady chair that might've as well had wheels with her clumsy reputation. She had simply ignored him-no doubt to keep spirits high-so he was forced to subtly glance over the brim of his book every now and then to make sure she wasn't endangering herself too much. After all, she was irreplaceable…not even Angelina had such a good head for Quidditch.

He was mid-glance when his breath hitched in his throat as she just caught her balance after flailing her arms wildly. "Kat-Will you please stop?" he begged, rushing over to the side of the armchair she was atop. "You are going to-"

"Pass me that string of lights?" she beamed down at him, pointing the pile of multicolored lights at his feet. "I'd rather not have to get down only to clamber back up here," she explained, resting a hand on the wall the improve her lack of balance.

"Kat," he sighed, how she was ever graceful on broom while she could barely stay upright on her own two feet would always be a mystery, "Why can't you just charm them up?"

"Because that would completely defeat the purpose," she said as he reluctantly handed the end of the coil up to her. "Thanks."

"What would the purpose be?" he cocked an eyebrow, "Wearing ridiculous clothes while endangering our chance at the cup."

She looked down at her clothes and gave them a half scorn. "They're not ridiculous."

"Kat," he sighed with a smile as he leaned against the wall, "You're wearing red and white knee high stripped socks that show through the holes in your jeans that match the scarf that is completely unneeded inside. And all that matches the Santa Claus hat on your head."

"So that means my shirt's not half bad?" she smirked.

He rolled his eyes at the print of Saint Nick's jolly faced plastered across her chest along with the print that read-absurdly-'Santa is my homeboy'. "Please tell me you didn't buy that yourself."

She laughed lightly as she set a portion of the lights in place along the molding. "No, Joe got it for me."

"Joe?" he asked quizzically as he watched her, every movement causing him to catch his breath again. If his chaser kept putting herself un such harm he was sure he would wind up suffocating himself.

"He's my cousin," she explained, grimacing slightly as she now had to reach to lengths she would've never dared to attempt at any other time of the year. "He sent it from his school in Ireland."

"I didn't know you had a cousin."

"I have…," she grimaced again she just caught herself from toppling over. "…seven."

"Lucky."

"I know I am-"

"-I meant that seven is a lucky number."

"Oh," she said lightly as she stood back up and leant back to observe her work. Unfortunately her bout of grace and balance couldn't last forever and so her last action sent her tumbling backwards. As she flailed her arms with a small shriek as she fell back, striped socks now over her sandy blonde head; Oliver could practically see the cup fall away from his grasp as she fell back onto the seat of the chair.

"Kat!" he cried as she was sent into a fit of laughter. "Kat! It's not funny!"

She pushed her scarf off the top of her head and smiled up at him, "Yes it is."

"No it's not! You could've gotten hurt! What would I do then?" he yelled at her as she looked up at him, her legs still thrown over her head. "Wha-"

"Not to be rude, cap'n," she smirked up, "but if I'm so important why aren't you helping me up because if I stay like this any longer my neck's going to get sore. How am I supposed to play like that? I certainly won't be at the top of my game."

He sighed with a slight smile once she finished and helped her up. "As long as your not standing on top of a chair I think I'll be ok," he called over his shoulder as he went back to his book, which had been patiently waiting on the couch where he had last discarded it.

For the next hour, things continued in their usual fashion. Oliver would try to concentrate on the book in front of his eyes but instead would subtly look over the burgundy cover. And the object of which he was so concerned with, would look over her shoulder every now and then as she added more decorations to the Gryffindor common room. And every now and then she would catch him as he was looking back down to his book. Though the funny thing she found was that the book was upside down.

Days later her captain finally understood the importance of getting wall-to-wall coverage of paper snowflakes and blinking lights. He couldn't believe he completely forgot about the traditional Gryffindor Christmas Eve Party.

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Newly turned 16 year old Katie Bell looked across the crowded, festive, and -as Fred Weasley would put it- jumping, common room only to see her captain idly sipping a butter beer. So with the white ribbons clipped to her hair, Angelina's stilettos clacking on the ground beneath her, with Alicia's white tulip-mini skirt sliding against her legs and her own scarlet sweater tempted a dangerous V, she winded her way towards the bland Scotsman.

"Oliver," she scolded as she pushed her fringe off her face, "Are you kidding me?"

He looked around, despite that she had used his name he was rather caught off guard by her assertiveness. "Me?"

"No," she rolled her eyes, "My other captain."

He peered at her through the locks of wavy brown hair that occasionally fell in front of his brown eyes. "You have another captain?"

"You're too sober to even pretend to be drunk."

"You got me Katie Bell," he confessed meekly, raising the rim of the bottle to his mouth again.

"Oh c'mon, Ol'," she moaned half heartedly, biting back a smile as much as she could. "It's been two hours since this started and you haven't even moved."

"What's your point?"

She gave him a crooked smile as she snatched the butter beer out of his hand before he could take another sip and quickly shoved it in the hands of one of his known fan girls. The third year positively beamed. "Merry Christmas," Katie said hurriedly as she grabbed her captains hand and pulled him into the crowd as 'last Christmas' started to play.

"Kat?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she asked, "Consider this your Christmas gift."

"My Christmas gift?" he repeated as she placed her hands at the base of his neck.

"Yeah," she smiled guiltily up at him as he hesitantly placed his hands on her hips, "I kind of ran out of money before I got to you." He threw back his head in laughter. "My poverty is hardly funny Oliver."

"It's not that," his brown eyes shining in mirth as they idly moved to the slower beat, "It's just…never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What is it?"

"Honestly, it's noth-"

"Tell me, _cap'n_," she added rather mockingly.

"It's just," he looked towards the blinking lights on the molding and tried to suppress his laughter again as thoughts of days before flooded his head again. "I would've never guessed this gift," he indicated. "I thought you were going to get me another gag gift."

"How do you know this isn't a gag gift?" she asked, pushing a ribbon back against her hair as it traveled in front of her face.

"Because you haven't stepped on my toes yet," he whispered.

"Only because I'm really concentrating on not being a klutz in these shoes," she whispered back, playful acerbic.

"Hmm," he looked down at her pointy black shoes, "They do look rather dangerous."

"They're killer."

He howled another laugh and her mouth curved up in a warm smile.

Unfortunately 'Last Christmas' wasn't a very long song and soon it faded into 'Christmas shoes'.

"Oh god," Katie sighed before letting her green eyes drop to the floor, "This song always almost bring me to tears."

"Well I believe this is where my gift ends," Oliver said blankly as he let his hands drop.

"Yes, well…" she shrugged her shoulders meekly as she tucked a lock of golden blonde hair behind her ears. Suddenly her green eyes snapped back towards him, "But I could give you two presents."

"I..I think I'd like that," he said, furrowing his brown and smiling at the same time.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She smiled and they resumed their lovely idle movements as they had for the previous song.

"Why did you choose these spectacular gifts for me?" he asked as Katie's eyes began to water up as the song took a very melancholy tone.

She smirked back up at him, "You know that whole saying that by giving you get?" He nodded, "Well this just happened to be a bargain."

The seventh year laughed again and by the end of the night he had been given a whole night's worth of gifts from his invaluable chaser.

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Unfortunately as the weeks before Christmas surge with jovial emotions, the dwindling weeks afterward loose their luster as things devolve into the normal routine with no tinsel, or lights, or paper snowflakes to keep things merry and bright.

Three weeks after gifts had been exchanged, after friends came back from holiday trips, after the bubble charms on the tow large Christmas tree's in the great Hall wore off, Katie Bell was taking down the decorations she had meticulously put up.

Pushing her fringe off her face, she hummed 'Feliz Navidad' as she stood on her tippy toes, in red and white striped socks, to pull down the paper chains she and the twins had spent hours laughing over their creation of them. As she pulled over a chair to the wall to take the lights down, she looked over her shoulder to see her captain's face turning a faint shade of red as he looked down at his book meekly. She smiled to herself, carrying on with her task and her song; wondering if _Quidditch Throughout the Ages _was any better read upside down.

**I know this isn't one of my best but it was kinda like last minute Christmas shopping-I just decided to do this like a day or two ago…or something like that. But yeah, that's not an excuse. i'll tunr out a btter one around New Years i'm thinking...i'm hoping rather.**

**So either way if you guys could leave me a review and jazz that would be spectacular. Merry Christmas guys!!!**

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**To: Arre  
For always pushing my to write my best no matter what size of slump I'm in, for making me laugh at the constant reviews she sends my way, returning every nonsense email I've sent her along with creative writing assignments that needed her help desperately, for reviewing for every story I put out there-no matter what pairing or plot bunny I choose-and most of all for being a true friend who's stuck by me despite the things that could prove otherwise. Like the US-Australia time gap and my daily rants. I can only hope I offer her half as much.  
Lots o love girl and Merry Christmas**


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